Protector for trees or other vegetation.



N. HOGAN.

PROTECTOR FOR TREES OR OTHER VEGETATION.

APPLICATION man MAR. 11, 1913.

1 1 55,3 1.3 Patented Sept. 28, 1915.

COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH co.,wASH|NuTON, D. c.

nnw ron osea, or Los ANGELES, CALI ORN A.

Specification of Letters Patent.

rnornoron son 'rnnns on or -innvnenrnrion.

Patented Sept. 28, 1915.

Application filed March17, 1913. Seiia1 No. 755,016.

To all whom it may concern:

, Be itknown that I, NnwTonHoeAN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Les Angeles,in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Protector for Trees or Other Vegetation, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to novelly con structed means to be used in connection with fruit trees or any other Vegetation whatso ever, and serves adequately to protect said trees against cold, wind, hail, and other meteorological inclemencies.

To thisend the invention contemplates the use of a novelly-constructed and supported hood which may be spread over the tree or foliage, and which is made preferably of material having an impervious body portion and reinforcing means therefor.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure l is an elevation in cross section of the applicants novel protecting means and shows it in position over a tree. Fig. 2. is an elevation of the protecting means. Fig. 3 shows the development ofythe hood embraced in this invention. -Fig. Yd illustrates an enlarged cross section through one form of material with which the hood may be constructed.- Fig. 5 illustrates an enlarged cross-section through another form of the material with which the hood may be constructed. Fig. (3 is a perspective view showing a fragment of the hood material,

the body portion of same being severed and separated so as to display one form of.

reinforcing means used therewith. v

Though the invention may be used for protecting allkinds of foliage and 'vege-' tation, Fig. 1 illustrates it as applied to a fruit tree 1. A hood 2, having a conical or other suitable shape, is spread or erected over the tree, and is supported .by the upper end of a pole 3, while, the lower end 4: of said pole is adapted to rest'on the usual tree crotch 5. The lower end of said hood is preferably fastened and sealed to the. earth by any suitable means whatsoever, the figures showing a cheap and easily Inanipulated expedient for accomplishing this result. This expedient comprises the leaves 6 projecting from the lower perimeter of the hood, and adapted to receive staples 7 which pin said leaves andhood to the earth,

while ,a low dirt mound 8 may be shoveled all around the hood so as to seal same to the earth. i p

"Particular features of novelty embraced in this invention reside in certain provisions 'whereby the hood is made substantial, dulrable and self-supporting by reinforcing means, and whereby it is also impervious to cold, wind, etc. These provisions are accomplished by constructing the hood of material comprising a treated" body portion, which is, impervious to meterological -incleinencies, and by uniting, suitable reinforcing means with said body portion, so that rigidity and durability are insured to the material. One class of material, which gives particularly valuable service for this purpose, 1s illustrated in Figs. l, 5-and 6, and

will now be described. The body portion 9 of this material, Fig. 5, comprises two.

layers, 1 .0 and 11, of a looserained paper orfabric, which may be formed, for instance, of wood pulp mixed with felt; and

which paper or fabric has been treatedby soaking itwith liquid asp'haltum or other oily product, or which has beenv treated by any substance whatsoever, so as to make it impervious to water, wind, cold, etc. By

being substantially moisture proof, the integrity ofthe material and hood is not impaired by snow, rain or dampness, to which it may be often subject; and by being impervious to the cold the hood serves admirably for retaining the trees own body warmth within itself, and for shielding the tree. and fruit thereon against destructive frosting or freezing temperatures without. The layers 10 and 11 are glued together, or are attached to each other; by any suitable method of adhesiomand in this form the conveniently introduced in the form of wires 12 and betweenlayers l0 and 11. Though-in no sense is itcontemplated to limit the rein forcing means to wires, yet a very cheap and substantlal material can be produced thereby; and though the wires may be attached to the body 9 in any manner desired,

and in any relation, to each other, yet one practical arrangement is shown in Fig. ,5 wherein the wires are embedded within the body portion 9, and which is further shown in Fig. 6, wherein the embedded wires bear an interlaced relation to each other-so as to provide a throughout. This insures a light material having suiiicient rigidity for the purpose,

continuous wire netting means for reinforcing the material may be 4o the heat produced by the natural biological and prevents it from' being torn or ripped when handled. U

Fig. 4 shows another form of material differing from that shown in Fig, 5 principally in the fact that the reinforclng wires 12 have been milled right into and along with the body portion 9 instead of having the latter formed of two layers attached to each other as in Fig. 5. This form of the material is less expensive to produce, and

- having a unitary body portion is' usually commence. tree the hood may have the form of a flat sector as'shown in Fig. 3 in which case many more durable than'the form shown in Fig. 5.

Depending on the climate in the partlcular place the protection is spread over the trees at periods when the frosting or freezing conditions of winter are expected to Before being spread over the hoods may be stacked onto each other for the purpose. of convenient. storage. 'W hen ready for application to the tree, however,

.theedgesl3 of the hood are wrapped around the treeand are then laced together by any suitable means, such as the lacing 1 L, 2,

embracing and connecting the two. rows of hooks 15 on the two edges 13 respectively.

Theoutlineof the hood as illustrated in Fig.

i 8 has three sides, a semi-circular side and two straight sides 13" of substantially the samelength, one of the straight sides pass ing through. a line parallel to and spaced apart from the other straight side to form an'overlapping portion whereby the sides 13 may be readlly fastened to one another'when the hood is in erect position. The hood be" I ing thus erected before the cold weather sets in, is left-in position untilthe warm weather of spring arrives, and in the meanwhile serves to retaln within the. tree and fruit developmenttwithin. This feature is particularly valuable in citrus growing regions where the fruit is developing on the tree during the winter seasons, and it is valuable inthis connection not only in saving the cit-- I j rus crop agamst frost, but also in savlng the whole tree from destruction by an occasional freeze. A further feature of value lies 1n the protection, afforded against Winds to.

whichthe hood is impervious. 'When'these arepermitted to'blow upon the open tree the fruit is often threshed prematurely therefrom; or else the fruit is batteredbaclr 1 and forth against the sharp edges ofthe bark, so 'that the skin maybe bruised and marred, andtthe market value of the fruit thereby reduced. All this, however, is avoided by using the invention herein de scribed. V I

The impervious hood being in position all 2 through the winter season it is necessary, 1 especially at noonday-when thetemperature is warm, that the tree be adequatelyventr lated and exposed to the light,so that its growth and development may not be ar rested, and so that the ripening of its fruit may continue without interruption. For this purpose a series of ventilating openings 16 are cut through the hood, and each opening is provided with an adjustable closure 17 pivotally mounted by a pin or rivet 18. These closures are slightly larger than the openings, so that the former may lap over and completely seal the latter. As seen in a few'instances in Fig. 3 these closures may;. however, be swung on pivot 18so as to ,ad-" 1ustably uncover opening 16 to a greater or less extentn r v As seen in Fig.1 the openingslfi may be suitably arranged in different'tiers 19, 20 and 21, successively below eachother In this event the closures may be 1 slidj oil the openings intheupper tiers atftheapeX of the hood,"the' openings there being clustered together so as to permit light to flood down onto the tree, whilev the closures may additionally be slid off the lower openings so as to'permit complete ventilation from the bottom to the top of the hood. Theseclosures,

of course, may be left opened or closed to a greater or less extent at all times, according i tothe external temperature, etc]; and since the latter 'ineli'ect becomes a warmth genbiological re-actions go on within the "tree erator of suflicient capacity to preserve itself against the touches offrost or cold that 'tend to leak" in through the hood. The

warmthgenerated by the tree also tends constantly to produce convection currents which 1 extendadequatelybeyond the perimeter of the hood. I With such a trenchventilating 'air may be constantly admitted to the hood,

and 'thisair though coming from the cold i exterior is warmed by contact with the warm earth forming the sides of the trench. This secures ample ventilation for trees or:

any {characterwhatsoever.

It "will be understood also thatthe hood, hereinbefore described, is particularly use- '120 .ful when artificial heating means, suchfas;

electrical or other heaters, are used to.sup-

plement the natural warming capacity of l the tree itself. It will be also understood that for such purpose, asforcing the fruit forinstance warm manure may be spread on the earth beneath: the tree and within the hood, and that the fermentationof said manure will also adequately supplement the warming capacity of the tree so as to carry same through relatively cold severe conditions of the external air. In either of these cases, the trench 22 is especially serviceable for supplying fresh air whereby the heating reactions may be supported.

In times of extreme Wind it will be desirable to have means in addition to all the foregoing which will prevent the hood from careening hard over onto the tree and rubbing back and forth on same. purpose supporting wires 23 run from some point near the top of the hood, such as pin 2st on pole 3, the said wires being taut and having their lower extremities anchored to the earth as by staples 25.

From the foregoing it is seen that by making the hood of a conical shape to cover,

and protect vegetable growth and providing said conical hood at intervals therearound with openings, the solar rays can penetrate to the interior of the hood whatever the direction of said rays regardless of the time of day and the season so that growth will be interfered with to a minimum degree.

In view of the foregoing detail descri tion it is believed that the construction and operation of the device embodying this in vention will be clear.

I claim 1. A tree protector comprising a fiat reinforced sheet having three sides, one a semi-circular side and two straight sides, one of the straight sides passing through a line that is parallel to and spaced apart from the other side whereby to form an overlapping portion, said straight sides being adapted to engage with one another when the sheet is wrapped around a tree, th sheet when in protecting position forming a conical housing over the tree with the overlapping portion of said one side eX- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the v i Washington, 13.0.!

For this In presence ofsides out of alinement with one another,

said radial sides being adapted to engage one another when the sheet iswrapped around. a tree, and means provided around the circular periphery of said sheet, said means being adapted tobe fastened to the ground to secure the lower edge of the sheet in place when the sheet is wrapped around a tree.

3. A device of the character described comprising. a flat sheet of substantially semi-circular conformation reinforced with ,wire netting, said sheet having two radial sides out of alinement with one another, a notched reinforcement positioned between the two adjacent ends of said radial sides, and a pole adapted to be positioned centrally of the treeto be protected, said sheet being adapted to be wrapped aroundsaid tree with itsnotched reinforcement secured to the upper end of said pole'and its radial sides fastened to one another.

I In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 10th day of March, 1913.

NEWTON HOGAN.

JAMES R. TOWNSEND, ROBERT A. STEPS.

Commissioner of Patents 

